Even though many investors have recouped most of their losses, most remain scarred psychologically by the financial crisis. Although they want to work with advisors, they want far more involvement than they did before the collapse of Lehman.
"Investors expect so much more from their advisors," Walper said. "The bar is way up from 2008."
Justified or not, clients' perception of their own investing abilities is rising as well. Whether it is because their advisor didn't see the crisis coming-only Nouriel Roubini, John Paulson and a handful of others did-or whether they are reasoning that they, too, could lose only 35% of their portfolio isn't clear. Whatever the reason, clients may be interested in growing their assets, but they are more eager to protect their financial positions, and they may not always see the conflict between the two goals.
Moreover, clients expect their phone calls to be returned within three hours, seven days a week. "When a business owner sends an e-mail on a Sunday morning, they expect a return phone call on Sunday. In 2005, you could return it on Monday," Walper remarked.
Physicians who might take a day to return a phone call from a patient think three hours is a long time to wait for their advisor to call back. The good news for advisors is that if they remain highly responsive to clients, satisfaction levels can surge to the 96% to 99% area.
Unfortunately, a huge gap remains between perception and reality when it comes to how advisors and clients view each other. "The disconnect between what advisors think of advisors and what clients think of them is like the U.S. and China," Walper explained.
With many individuals' portfolios recovering to acceptable levels, clients are focused on their own personal issues. "Investment-oriented advisors think clients want to know why they bought Intel and sold IBM," Walper said. "Clients want to know why they can't pay for their grandchildren's education to the extent they thought they could."
If clients' attitudes toward their advisors have improved, their attitudes toward Wall Street have not. "Wall Street is not perceived as trustworthy," Walper said. "It will take a while for the sting to go away."
Moreover, emotions surrounding the current political climate are intense. One conference participant, Mark Balasa of Balasa Dinverno & Foltz in Itasca, Ill., told attendees that clients' interest in what's happening in Washington reminds him of the way they usually feel during the fall of a presidential election year. Whether the client is a Republican or Democrat, they are watching Washington with a keen eye.
Another factor driving clients to distraction is the 24-hour news cycle. Doug Lockwood, a principal at Harbor Lights Financial Group in Manasquan, N.J., recalled getting dozens of phone calls one day after CNBC's Jim Cramer screamed at his Mad Money viewers to sell everything. "They were not the $5 million [in assets] clients," Lockwood quickly added.